CS 407 Human Computer Interface

1
CS 407 Human Computer Interface

• Class 45 Last Class!
• Friday, December 10, 1999

2
Thought for the Day
Don't tell me I'm burning the candle at both ends
tell me where to get more wax!!
3
Strategic Planning

• The cartoon that was on this page in class was
  found at Todays Cartoon by Randy Bergen.

4
Todays Topics

• Chapter 16 (Selected topics)
• Hypertext, Multi-media and the World Wide Web

5
Project 2

• Its taking about 20-30 minutes to grade each one.

6
Final Exam Notes

• Review questions by last years students are on
  the web page.
• You can put together similar questions of your
  own, for 5 points credit on the final.
• Groups of 2-3 students (all name, please)
• 3 questions on each of 2 consecutive chapters.
• Post to the class discussion page by Monday
  night. (No credit given later than midnight.)
• You may bring to the final one 5x7 card, hand
  written on both sides with your notes. It will
  be stapled to the exam when you turn it in.

7
Chapter 16

• Hypertext, Multi-media and the World Wide Web

8
Overview

• Hypertext allows documents to be linked in a
  non-linear fashion.
• Multi-media incorporates different media sound,
  images, video.
• Hypermedia is a hypertext that includes
  multi-media.
• The World Wide Web is a global hypermedia system.

9
Overview (2)

• Animation and video can show information that is
  difficult to convey statically.
• Applications or hypermedia include on-line help
  and education.
• Design for the World Wide Web illustrates general
  hypermedia design, but also has its own special
  problems.

10
Text and Hypertext

• Text is a common form of output, and very useful
  in many situations
• Imposes a strict linear progression on the
  reader, according to the authors ideas of what
  is best - this may not be ideal

11
Text and Hypertext (2)

• Hypertext structures blocks of text into a mesh
  or network that can be traversed in many
  different ways
• Allows a user to follow their own ideas and
  concepts through information
• Hypertext systems comprise
• A number of pages, and
• Links, that allow one page to be accessed from
  another

12
Text and Hypertext (3)

• Example
• A technical manual for a photocopier may have all
  the technical words linked to their definition in
  a glossary. It may be possible to follows links
  so that one reads all the information on a
  particular aspect of the system, such as all the
  electronics, or to follow a different route
  through the data to solve a problem with, say,
  copying to double-sided documents.
• Many of the pages visited will be identical in
  both cases, but will be encountered in a
  different order.

13
Hypermedia (I)

• Hypermedia systems are hypertext systems that
  incorporate additional media, such as
  illustrations, photographs, video and sound.
• Particularly useful for educational purposes
• Animation and graphics can allow user to see
  things happen as well as read.
• Hypertext structure allows users to explore at
  their own pace following threads that interest
  them.

14
Problems with Hypertext/Hypermedia

• Lost in hyperspace - users can be unsure as to
  where in the hypertext web they are.
• Maps of the hypertext are a partial solution, but
  since hypertexts can be large, these can be
  daunting too.
• Incomplete coverage of information.
• As there are so many different routes through the
  hypertext, it is possible to miss chunks, by
  taking routes that avoid these areas.
• Difficult to print out and take away.
• Printed documents require a linear structure it
  can be difficult to get the relevant information
  printed out in a neat manner.

15
Animation

• Animation refers to the addition of motion to
  images they change and move in time
• Simple examples
• Clocks
• Digital faces - seconds flick past
• Analog face - second hand sweeps round constantly
• Salvador Dali clock - digital numbers warp and
  melt, one digit into the next
• Cursor
• Hourglass/watch/spinning disc indicates the
  system is busy
• Flashing cursor indicates typing position
  clearly
• Different types of cursor pointer indicate
  different functionality available, or different
  mode

16
Animation (II)

• Animation used to great effect to indicate
  temporally-varying information.
•  Useful in education and training
• Allow users to see things happening, as well as
  being interesting and entertaining images in
  their own right

17
Animation Example Data Visualization

• Abrupt and smooth changes in multi-dimensional
  data can be visualized using animated, colored
  surfaces that ripple and fluctuate.
• Complex molecules and their interactions can be
  more easily understood when they are drawn and
  moved on the screen, rotated and viewed from
  arbitrary positions.

18
World Wide Web

• Best known largest hypermedia system.
• Graphic interface was a strong factor in its
  acceptance. (Remember Lynx?)
• Plug-ins allow all kinds of additions sound,
  animation, video,
• The usability of the medium overshadows the
  technology.
• There are other systems with better technology,
  but the WWW has become ubiquitous.

19
World Wide Web (2)

• Pages can be created dynamically by a program.
  So a page can be tailored to a specific user.
• Java aplets make pages even more changeable.

20
World Wide Web Problems

• Huge size makes lost in hyperspace even more of
  a problem.
• Information overload.
• Bandwidth overload
• Text, pictures and graphics, even programs.
• ?world wide wait

21
Section 16.7 Designing for the Web

• Interesting material.
• Also recommended Jakob Nielsens web site on web
  site design.
• http//www.useit.com/alertbox/

22
Application Virtual Reality

• Multimedia multimodal interaction at its most
  extreme, VR is the computer simulation of a world
  in which the user is immersed.
• Headsets allow user to see the virtual world.
• Gesture recognition achieved with DataGlove
  (lycra glove with optical sensors that measure
  hand and finger positions).
• Eyegaze allows users to indicate direction with
  eyes alone.

23
Application Virtual Reality (2)

• Examples
• VR in chemistry - users can manipulate molecules
  in space, turning them and trying to fit
  different ones together to understand the nature
  of reactions and bonding.
• Flight simulators - screens show the world
  outside, whilst cockpit controls are faithfully
  reproduced inside a hydraulically-animated box.

24
(No Transcript)